Iran slams Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE for violating OPEC quota

Iran's OPEC Governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi says some member states, particularly Saudi Arabia, are violating the oil quota of the petroleum producing organization. "Saudi Arabia and its two allies (Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates) are the biggest violators of the OPEC (quota)," Khatibi said on Saturday.

The Iranian official blamed these countries for the drop in oil prices by over-pumping.

"It is not right that two or three countries compensate for a country that is targeted by sanctions... OPEC members should not work against each other," Khatibi added.

Khatibi said Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has sent a letter of complaint to the OPEC Secretariat to protest the move by the three Arab countries.

According to the Iranian envoy, Saudi Arabia is under pressure from the EU and US to increase its production in order to allow for the implementation of oil sanctions against Iran.

On January 23, the EU approved new sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors. The sanctions are meant to prevent EU member states from buying Iranian crude or doing business with its central bank. The embargoes are slated to go into force as of July 1.

The move came after the US imposed new sanctions against Iran on New Year's Eve with the aim of preventing other countries from importing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with its central bank.

The US and some Western countries accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program and have used this pretext to push for four rounds of UN sanctions and a series of unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran has repeatedly refuted Western allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.